The Rockefeller University

Entrance into the International Fanconi Anemia Registry (IFAR)

Purpose

The reason for doing this research is to study the nature diagnosis and treatment of individuals affected with the genetic disease Fanconi anemia an inherited disorder that leads to bone marrow failure (aplastic anemia) and cancer development.  In most cases it is a recessive disorder: if both parents carry a defect (mutation) in the same Fanconi anemia gene each of their children has a 25% chance of inheriting the defective gene from both parents.  When this happens the child will have Fanconi anemia.  Patients may have a variety of birth defects and may eventually develop acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) head and neck gynecological and/or gastrointestinal cancer.  The researchers doing the study will collect information about the medical history genetics clinical course blood test results treatment complications and social issues of Fanconi anemia.  Information about relatives of Fanconi anemia patients will also be collected.  A purpose of this project is to develop a detailed listing or `registry' of people who may have Fanconi anemia and their close family members. Tissue samples are collected in a repository in order to study the genotype of the study subjects for geneotype/phenotype correlation and to understand why bone marrow and cancer develop.  Using patient samples we want to understand the disease so we can develop new preventive and treatment strategies.

Condition

• Fanconi Anemia